Area Farm & Ag Headlines

On February 11th, the Minnesota Farm Network declared Emery Kleven as its new farm director.

Congratulations to Kleven as the second farm director at MFN during its 30 years of operation!

Kleven was previously the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) President, and also received the Monsanto Premier Harvest Broadcaster Award and the Nebraska Associated Press Spot News Award.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (MDA) – Minnesota is looking for volunteers to join the “first detector” early warning system to help keep an eye out for new infestations of invasive pests. These volunteer “first detectors” make it more likely that infestations of emerald ash borer and other invasive tree pests will be found in early stages when they are easier to control.

Registration is now open for Forest Pest First Detector workshops to be held in February and March. The six one-day workshops will be conducted by experts with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), University of...

Congratulations to those individuals that participated on the Nobles County 4-H Livestock Judging Team at the Sioux Empire Farm Show on Saturday, January 26 th in Sioux Falls, SD. The team placed 9th overall!

The contest hosted 38 teams consisting of 4-H or FFA members located in counties and schools across IA, MN, and SD.

Great job Nobles County! Stay tuned as Radio Works ag broadcaster Sonja Langseth catches up with the participants on AM 730 KWOA!

The annual Farm Resource Guide for 2013 is now available via the University of Minnesota Extension.

This comprehensive guide includes a variety of very useful farm business management information.The front of the Guide has the most frequently requested information on Custom Rates, Rental Rates for various ag commodity, forages, bins and buildings, Farmland Sales and Rents and Pasture rental rates. Marketing information included lists the cash price probabilities for cash corn and soybeans for Worthington, Minnesota, since 1974.

You may be familiar with "The REAL story" as brought to you by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. This is a site which spreads the story of your local farmers, telling the R.E.A.L. story (mission to practice Responsible, Ethical Agriculture for Life). Nobles County farmer Bill has decided to share his, in an article from therealstorymn.com. His story is as follows:

Farming is one of the oldest occupations in the world, and it’s been in Bill’s family for four generations. His great grandfather started farming in Nobles County in the early 1900s, and his family has...

In a press release, Congressman Tim Walz released the following statement after being chosen by his colleagues to lead the Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry.

“I am truly honored to serve as a leader of the Conservation, Energy, and Forestry Subcommittee,” said Walz. “Our producers and farmers are good stewards of the land and we must allow them to do what they do best; feed and clothe the world. To accomplish this, we must renew our commitment to passing a long-term, five-year Farm Bill that will give rural America certainty.

In a press release on Friday, January 18th, the IRS announce it will issue guidance to provide relief from the estimated tax penalty for farmers unable to file and pay their 2012 taxes by the March 1 deadline due to the delayed start for filing tax returns.

The delay stems from this month’s enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA). The ATRA affected several tax forms that are often filed by farmers and fishermen, including the Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization (Including Information on Listed Property). These forms will require extensive programming and testing...

The drought of 2012 has affected not only grain farmers, but also livestock producers and companies. On Thursday, January 17th, Cargill announced that it will idle its Plainview, Texas, beef processing facility effective at the close of business, Friday, Feb.1, 2013, resulting primarily from the tight cattle supply brought about by years of drought in Texas and Southern Plains states.

In a press release, Cargill revealed that approximately 2,000 people work at the Plainview facility, and that they will receive company support. Federal, state, county and city government...

WichitKan. – For eight years running, readers of No‐Till Farmer magazine have voted AGROTAIN®nitrogen stabilizer by Koch Agronomic Services the top product in the fertility/soil amendmentscategory. Allen Sutton, who was on the product development team for AGROTAIN® stabilizer, acceptedthe award on behalf of Koch at the National No‐Tillage Conference in Indianapolis on Friday, Jan. 11.

“Farmers who implement conservation tillage are some of the most knowledge‐seeking, discerningfarmers in the industry, so Koch should be proud that its product has been recognized for its...

Producers will have no problem finding the more than 150 new products and technologies that exhibitors plan to display at the upcoming AG CONNECT Expo & Summit 2013, thanks to pre-show and at-show efforts to help attendees locate new products on the show floor.

As part of AG CONNECT’s New Products & Technologies Program, attendees may preview new products online and create a personal show planner to keep track of exhibitors they want to visit.

At the show, the printed show directory will provide attendees with the complete list of New Products & Technologies...